
Thanks to VESA, the consumer electronics industry has adopted standards that make things like monitor arms and monitor brackets pretty interchangeable. VESA stands for the Video Electronics Standards Association, which is a non-profit collection of technology companies (including Apple) who set standards and practices for things like DisplayPort codecs and where the holes on the back of a flat panel TV or monitor go. So what is VESA, exactly, and how can Apple get away with charging $200 for something many companies sell for under $20. I have a handful of VESA mounts laying around, stored next to the box of cables I’ll never organize and never throw out. VESA adapters are common and so cheap they often come packaged either with the monitor stand or monitor they’ll be attached to. The problem is that if you want to mount the Pro Display XDR to anything that isn't the $999 Pro Stand you'll need to spend $200 on Apple's VESA Mount Adapter, which is essentially a simple piece of metal that makes the monitor compatible with with the mounting standard every other monitor uses.


People who don’t want to spend $1,000 on a monitor stand can buy a generic one from Amazon for around $30, or even mount it directly to a wall. The stand for the Pro Display XDR is a staggering $999, the cost of a new gaming PC.

The $5,000 monitor is a 6K monstrosity and far nicer than almost anyone but the most powerful (and wealthy) of Apple power users will need.Īs far as we understand, and according to Apple's description of what's included with the Pro Display XDR, it doesn’t come with any kind of mount, meaning there's no way to keep the monitor upright unless you spend even more money on another piece of Apple hardware. Apple’s new upgradeable Mac Pro and its Pro Display XDR is a vulgar display of power.
